In supermarkets and department stores there are many different types of shelf assemblies, which are filled with products offered for sale. Many of these products must for various reasons, such as open-dating or refrigerating reasons, be supplied in such a manner that the last supplied products are positioned in the rear part of the shelf. At the same time this satisfies the requirement that the product first supplied is also first sold. A large amount of the time of the shop staff is used to supply additional products. This means that there is a great interest in getting rid of conventional types of shelf assembly where the remaining products from previous supplies first must be removed from the shelf assemblies before supplying new products. One way of solving this problem is to design shelf assemblies which are adapted to be refilled from behind. This can be achieved by wheels being mounted on the shelf assemblies so that the shelf assembly is completely pulled out, or alternatively pivoted out, from its position to make the rear accessible for refilling. Since the shelf assemblies are in many cases quite heavy and difficult to steer, it may be necessary to take care of this by using supports and/or guide tracks which guide the movement, like in shelf assemblies in refrigerators according to European patent application 1683449 A1.
This known variant is specifically intended for a refrigerator which has an outer cabinet, to which the shelf assembly is connected. However, there are many spaces, such as shops and cold-storage rooms, where there is no need for an outer cabinet.
US patent application 2004/0211741 discloses a shelf assembly which is arranged to be refilled from behind. A variant of this prior art shelf assembly is directly pivotable on a hinge which is attached to a corner post and which in turn is fixed to another shelf assembly which is positioned behind or beside the pivotable shelf assembly. A further variant can be pulled out forward and then be pivoted in the pulled-out position. In this variant, the shelf assembly is also connected to at least one neighbouring shelf assembly. The reason why a plurality of shelf assemblies are connected to each other in this manner is that one shelf assembly supports the others during said movements.